CMF by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) EQ settings
Parametric EQ correction for the CMF by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off), derived from measurements by Filk. It moves the measured frequency response toward a neutral target.
How the by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) sounds before EQ
Measured against a neutral target, the by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) comes out near-neutral. It already tracks the target closely, so the correction is polish rather than surgery.
Two things are true here at once. The broad tonal balance is close to the target: average any whole region and nothing is more than 1.2 dB out. But the correction still contains a 3.4 dB move around 58 Hz, narrow enough that it barely shifts the regional average. A move like that changes the character of one part of the sound without tilting the balance of the whole.
These figures are read from the correction itself: whatever the EQ lifts, the headphone lacked, and whatever it cuts, the headphone had too much of. The target is the community's neutral reference, and how far above 10 kHz you can trust any measurement varies by rig. More near-neutral models.
The correction curve
The solid line is the full measured correction (all 10 filters). The dashed line is what Atrium applies: the same shape at 65 percent strength, capped at 6 dB per band, so the headphone keeps its own character instead of being forced flat.
What the EQ fixes
Summed across every filter, these are the changes the correction actually makes, largest first:
- Around 58 Hz the correction cuts the sub-bass by 3.4 dB, over a medium-width band about 1.4 octaves wide.
- Around 150 Hz the correction lifts the upper bass by 2.6 dB, over a medium-width band about 0.6 octaves wide.
- Around 6 kHz the correction cuts the sibilance range by 2.2 dB, over a medium-width band about 0.6 octaves wide.
The preamp of -2.6 dB offsets the boosts so nothing clips at full volume.
The filter table below contains bigger numbers than these: its largest single filter is +7.2 dB. That is normal for an automatically fitted correction and it is not a boost of that size. Several of those filters sit on the same part of the spectrum and pull against each other, so what reaches your ears is their sum, which is the curve above. Enter every filter as listed and you get that sum. No single filter's gain is the size of any change.
Parametric EQ settings
Preamp: -2.6 dB (headroom for the summed boost, not for any single row)
| # | Type | Frequency | Gain | Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low shelf | 105 Hz | +3.8 dB | 0.70 |
| 2* | Peaking | 56 Hz | -7.2 dB | 0.60 |
| 3 | Peaking | 149 Hz | +3.1 dB | 2.89 |
| 4 | Peaking | 5.96 kHz | -2.3 dB | 1.99 |
| 5 | Peaking | 243 Hz | +1.8 dB | 0.68 |
| 6 | High shelf | 10 kHz | +0.8 dB | 0.70 |
| 7 | Peaking | 1.26 kHz | -1.6 dB | 2.15 |
| 8 | Peaking | 758 Hz | +0.9 dB | 2.23 |
| 9 | Peaking | 2.92 kHz | -0.7 dB | 3.32 |
| 10 | Peaking | 4.03 kHz | +0.6 dB | 3.61 |
* Row 2 is marked because its gain is larger than anything this correction actually does. That filter overlaps others in the list and pulls against them, so its full size never reaches your ears. Summed with the rest of the set, the largest change anywhere in this correction is 3.4 dB, around 58 Hz. The preamp above is set from that sum, not from any single row, which is why it is only -2.6 dB. Enter every row exactly as listed, including the marked one and the cuts. The set is correct together and misleading apart.
This is the published correction for the by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off), unaltered, in AutoEq format. It pastes straight into Equalizer APO or Peace on Windows, and into most parametric EQ apps. Enter every row, including the ones that cut. These are the values to use: the numbers are not rounded off or simplified for the page, because changing them would change the result.
How to use these settings
Manually: enter the preamp and each filter into any parametric EQ. On Windows that is usually Equalizer APO with the Peace interface. On a Mac, eqMac or SoundSource. Set the type, frequency, gain and Q exactly as listed.
With Atrium: pick your by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) in the app and it applies a tuned version of this correction: 65 percent strength with a 6 dB per-band cap, which fixes the rough spots without erasing what the headphone does well. Atrium also measures how you hear with a short listening test and layers your personal hearing profile on top. Two people with the same headphones do not hear the same sound. Headphone corrections are part of Signature Edition; the app itself is free.
by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) vs other CMF models
Bass and treble are each model's average distance from the neutral target in that range. Positive means more than neutral, negative means less.
| Model | Signature | Bass vs neutral | Treble vs neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) (this page) | near-neutral | +0.7 dB | +0.7 dB |
| by Nothing Buds 2 Plus (ANC on, pop) | bass-heavy | +2.5 dB | -0.1 dB |
| by Nothing Buds Pro (ANC on, balanced EQ) | bass-heavy | +2.5 dB | -0.2 dB |
| by Nothing Buds Pro 2 | bass-heavy | +7.4 dB | -1.8 dB |
Headphones that sound similar
Closest matches across all 4,332 measured models, by distance between their deviation curves. Useful if you like how the by Nothing by Nothin Buds Pro (ANC off) is tuned and want alternatives.